In 1870, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a war veteran, former printer and widower, is eking out a precarious living by reading newspapers at a dime a person to the illiterate and the curious in small towns across northern Texas.

He at first declines when asked to deliver a 10-year-old Indian captive to her relatives near San Antonio. The captain had married into an old San Antonio family, has fond memories of the place and know its people. This combined with pity for the girl who has been uprooted from all she knows for the second time in her young life -- and a $50 gold piece that will pay part of the expenses -- finally convinces him to accede to the request.

A hazardous 400-mile journey lays ahead of the pair. Not least of the initial concerns is winning the trust of Johanna, who has lost most memories of her life in the white world and become in her own mind a Kiowa.

Their dangers en route include rain-swollen rivers, a pale-haired man who tracks them and seeks to buy the girl, Indians and even the U.S. Army. This latter concern is one often overlooked in novels set in the post-Civil War west -- the federal army was often seen as both protector and oppressor in places like Texas in the Reconstruction period.

There's no surprise in the ultimate conclusion, but the pleasure is in getting there. The growing affection between the elderly man and the lost girl is heart-warming. Paulette Jiles knows her territory and depicts it and the historical period in eloquent prose. Some readers may find fault with the author's failure to use quotation marks. I didn't find it a problem. There's more narration than dialogue in the story. It's a wonderful tale, and one I enjoyed. In fact, I've now picked up another of Jiles' books.

Oh, there's a movie, too. I haven't seen it, but it's on my list.

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